System requirements for computerized scan report generation

A patient report generation system on a small computer (IBM series/1) has been designed for a large nuclear medicine department. Requirements for much a system differ considerably from those of computers used for image processing. This system has eleven terminals and four printers located in both the main laboratory and a satellite cardiac stress laboratory 23 floors below. Patient records are independently accessed by clerical staff, technologists, and physicians for the addition of information. Individual programs for each organ link and display screens of selectable statements. Those preprogrammed selections together with free text are processed to form a personalized report in complete sentences. Software design minimizes delays in computer response due to increasing numbers of users. Printer spooling enables the physician to immediately proceed to the next patient report without waiting for the previous one to finish printing. Logical decisions are made by the software to print reports in appropriate locations, such as near the cardiac clinic in the case of cardiac studies. One can display the status of the day's schedule with incomplete studies highlighted, and generate a list of billing charges at the end of each day. Logistical problems of transmitting dictated reports to a central office, havingmore » them transcribed, proofread, retyped and distributed to key areas of the hospital are eliminated. The authors' experience over a two year period has indicated that ''static screen'' terminal hardware capability, high terminal speed, and printer spooling are essential, all of which are commonplace on small business computers.« less